On the Road
by EMlit88
Summary: There are bigger problems that they should be dealing with, but Damon keeps replaying that night – that kiss – in his head. And given that they're stuck in a car together, he won't take stop until he gets an answer from her.


Title: On the Road

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Summary: There are bigger problems that they should be dealing with, but Damon keeps replaying that night – that kiss – in his head. And given that they're stuck in a car together, he won't take stop until he gets an answer from her.

A/N: So the finale renewed my Delena faith. This is set after the finale (2x22 – As I Lay Dying), probably a week later at most. This is kind of an intro to what might become a multi-chapter fic.

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><p>They've always put this thing between them off to the side.<p>

The timing was never right and their feelings took a backseat to violent supernatural beings, fake curses and scheming ex-girlfriends.

And now Jeremy is talking to the dead and Stefan is off on a drinking binge, being the bad brother apparently.

But when he and Elena are in the car, driving around rural Virginia, where a several vicious animal attacks had taken place just a couple of days ago, he can't help but think about the last time they were alone together.

"_I like you now," she whispers faintly, "Just the way you are."_

He can hear her now, and even though he's slow to register the words, he can feel the way her breath hitches when he closes his eyes. He feels her lips barely touch his and he doesn't even realize what's just happened in his delusional state. He only mutters a thank you once he realizes that she's forgiven him minutes before. It's not until Katherine gives him that vial of Klaus' blood to cure him when he realizes that Elena has just kissed him. Stefan be damned, he is still reeling over the revelation that Elena was in his bed lying next to him.

So long story short, the first time Elena kisses him, he's not even in his right mind to experience it.

Figures, right?

He sneaks a look at her and she's mindlessly humming to a song on the radio. Like she's purposefully ignoring what happened that night and every other time they were together before that. They've been on the road for a half an hour, but the only conversation they've had is one about the uninteresting scenery.

"Elena…" he begins. His tone is soft – just like the time he asked for her forgiveness before she knew he was dying.

Elena stops humming immediately. She knows what he wants. And she knows that she's not ready for it.

"Damon, I don't want to talk about it. Let's find Stefan first." She slumps back in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest as she looks out the window. He wants to accept her reply and leave it alone. Just like every other time he had brought it up. But he can't. Not this time.

"I want to," he says simply, never taking his eyes off the road. There's a long silence and when she doesn't say anything, he goes on.

"At first, I thought I was dreaming," he admits.

"You were hallucinating a lot," Elena tells him.

"But not that." He's calm and collected. Because he really has nothing to lose. He's been rejected countless times by her. He told her it would always be her, but it it's Elena in the hot seat now. He glances over to her and the look on her face is one of defeat.

"Not that," she confirms quietly, looking back to him and meeting his eyes.

"You kissed me," he says bluntly.

"You kissed me before, too," she replies.

"I thought you were Katherine. What's your excuse?" he questions.

"You were dying," she begins, before adding quickly, "That's – that's not what I meant. I didn't kiss you because you were dying." She sighs heavily and she stares down at her hands. Words were never their strong point.

"So why did you?"

"I care about you, Damon. I would've kissed anyone I cared about while they were on their deathbed. You needed it...I needed to. I don't think I have to really explain myself any more than that," she says defensively.

Damon puts his foot on the brake and pulls over to the side of the road. He can tolerate her ignoring the situation and the feelings bubbling between them, but he won't accept another "I care about you" from her mouth.

"Damon! What are you doing?" she shrieks.

"Try," he pushes her.

"Are you crazy? We're losing time. Stefan could be out there!"

"Stefan's done this blood-thirsty vampire bit before. He can take care of himself."

"If you don't start this car back up again, I swear I'm gonna get out and walk there myself," she threatens.

"You'll never get there in time. You don't even know where you're going."

"This is your brother, Damon! He's with Klaus killing innocent people because of his love for you!"

"You just love trying to redeem people, don't you?" Elena narrows her eyes and her body stiffens.

"You know that's not it. Stop being so stubborn, Damon," she fumes.

"Pot, meet kettle," he rolls his eyes. "I'm not moving this car until we talk about what happened that night."

"Fine," she huffs. "We can talk about it if you promise me that Stefan comes first."

"Of course dearest Stefan comes first. Are we good then?" he asks. She mumbles something incoherently in response.

"Why did you kiss me? And I swear that if you tell me that you _only_ care about me one more time, I will turn this car around," he says.

"You would not. What happened to our promise?" she challenges, shaking her head.

"I never promised you," he snarls, giving her a pointed look and slowing the car down. He starts turning the steering wheel to make a u-turn, but she grabs his right arm. His eyes burn holes into hers, but Damon straightens the wheel and speeds up without taking his eyes off of her.

"Okay. Let's try this again," he goes on. "Why?"

"You're a jerk. You were never going to turn around, were you?"

"Nope," he says easily, a smile on his lips. The smile immediately disappears when he continues. "You could have forgiven me and I would have been content. You could have told me that I was fine the way I was and I would have been ecstatic. So why?"

"I don't know," she says quietly.

"You do know," he insists, "You just won't admit it to yourself." She's speechless and continues to elude his intense gaze by turning her body away from him and looking out the window again.

"Will you keep your eyes on the road?" she says tensely. He chooses not to listen to her.

"I won't let you become Katherine," he says seriously, a minute later. She bites her lip and closes her eyes.

"I know you won't," she whispers.

But they both know that it's futile.

It's already too late.

But he leaves it at that. For now.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading, and reviews are always appreciated! I know that this plotline (Delena on a road trip) has a lot of room for a full-fledged fic, but I have a tendency to not continue fics and leave things open-ended, so that's a fair warning. We'll see where this goes.


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